Why it works: Rice and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,433 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Plaice, Curried
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine the rice, onions, salt, curry powder, and water.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the plaice pieces to the saucepan.
Boil for 15 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Patna rice
- Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the cooking liquid as it simmers.
- Onions
- Soften as they cook, adding sweetness and body to the liquid.
- Curry powder
- Supplies the spice flavour that permeates the rice and the liquid.
- Plaice
- Provides the fish protein, which cooks through in the simmering liquid.
The step that matters
Boil for 15 minutes after adding the plaice. Fish cooks quickly and turns dry and tough if overcooked, while rice needs enough simmering to become tender. Watch the heat and check the fish so both finish together.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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